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What are the symptoms of H1N1 swine flu? Ask the experts: Moms.

Ruth Gomez holds a photo of her son, Max, 5, in her Nashville, Tenn. home Oct. 8, 2009. The picture was signed by his kindergarten classmates after he died of swine flu Aug. 31. / AP

Forty-three children have died from swine flu nationwide in the past month. The boy pictured above is one of them. He and the others like him are why I keep harping about this flu. It’s serious.

A couple of weeks ago I explained about why doctors aren’t routinely testing for the H1N1 swine flu at this point.
The short version? They don’t need to. Swine flu is everywhere, and other influenza strains are AWOL so far this year. Plus, the rapid test isn’t very accurate.

That said, swine flu is definitely not the only bad actor out there. There’s also bacterial pneumonia to worry about, and it’s definitely around, too. So it’s useful to know the symptoms, and the difference between a no-big-deal fever and something more serious.

At this point, moms are the experts.
Here’s what they are saying:
All that media hype about it being “mild?” Doesn’t apply when you’re the one sitting up with a sick child.

Zooso said her 9-year-old woke up recently with a sore throat, and things went down hill from there. By nightfall he had a fever of 102 F, and the next morning he had a cough and runny nose to boot. Since he has asthma, she took him to the doctor.
Fearing pneumonia, the doctor prescribed both antibiotics and Tamiflu.
Overnight, her boy improved. Only, the virus had spread to her other child.

“Tests came back yesterday…He has H1N1 and my youngest has it, too. The doc put youngest on Tamiflu at first signs of fever, sore throat and cough. Within 12 hours you could not tell either was sick. Well done to my doctor.”

Here’s what Julie had to say to a someone who scoffed at medications and vaccines:

“I agree with you to a point. I do believe that antibiotics are sometimes overused, but as for having faith in our immune systems, this is a new strain-we have no immunity.”
“Telling everyone to ‘calm down and have faith in your immune system’ is easy for you to say when you don’t have any underlying medical problems or have children who have asthma, etc….
Well, let me know how you’d feel to be woke up in the middle of the night by your child telling you they don’t feel well and their temp is 104F. Should I just tell them, ‘you’re OK, your body will fix this’ and roll over and go back to sleep? I think not.”

Shannon has found the whole experience very frightening.

“This is all so unreal. My son started with a cough an sore throat. The next day he was running a 103 fever. I took him to the emergency room they said he has the flu. I asked if it was H1N1. They said, ‘Most likely,’ but that no test was needed. ‘Just treat it like any other flu. Liquids, Tylenol and rest.’
This is CRAZY. I sat watching my sons every breath while he slept.”

Many folks wrote to describe how incredibly fast the flu spread.

Laasis said:

“We were told by our school that a boy in my son’s class was daignosed with the H1N1 last Monday.
By Wednesday at 2 pm my 3 year-old-son didn’t feel well, by 9 pm he had spiked a fever of 106.2 and was given Tamiflu.
By Friday I had the flu also and was given the same.”

She also said the Tamiflu really worked.

If you’re confused about when to call the doctor and when to stay home, you’re not alone. The CDC has this to say on the subject:What are the emergency warning signs?
In children
* Fast breathing or trouble breathing
* Bluish skin color
* Not drinking enough fluids
* Not waking up or not interacting
* Being so irritable that the child does not want to be held
* Flu-like symptoms improve but then return with fever and worse cough
* Fever with a rash
In adults
* Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
* Pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen
* Sudden dizziness
* Confusion
* Severe or persistent vomiting

Also, have you made a decision about whether to get the H1N1 swine flu vaccine? Take our survey and have your say.